A couple weeks ago NBA Point guard Steve Nash gathered a few friends for a friendly pick-up game. You’d think that with NBA stars like Tony Parker, Grant Hill, Brandon Jennings, and teammate Marcin Gortat in attendance, a competitive game of hoops would ensue. That was not the case.

It has long been known that Nash is a passionate soccer fan. He played growing up in his native British Columbia, long before he ever picked up a basketball. Together with The Steve Nash Foundation, Adidas, and main sponsor Ortsbo, he put on a pickup soccer game called the Showdown in Chinatown NYC for the fourth consecutive year. Team Nash competed against a team led by former US Men’s national team captain Claudio Reyna.

One of this year’s main draws was the opportunity to see rising soccer stud Giuseppe Rossi; who did not disappoint and took home ‘Man of the Match’ honors. Rossi is a New Jersey native and Italian national team regular, in addition to starring in La Liga Villareal CF. Other participants included Nash’s teammates Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa, and the laughable Jared Dudley, who should have a few nice turf burns from his post-goal celebration. Other memorable moments came from guys scoring goals on Gortat, the jolly green giant goalie for Team Reyna, whose performance in goal will certainly not be earning him a call up to any league in any part of the world. Throughout the match, Nash stayed true to his point guard nature and set his teammates up with nice dishes, while coming up with 2 goals of his own.

Overall the event was a success with over 300 fans in attendance at Sara D. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side. Team Sportsvite was glad we had a chance to catch some of the action before it started pouring.

Final Score: Team Nash 16 – Team Reyna 10.
For more information on the Steve Nash Foundation click here, https://www.stevenash.org